Strapi: Can't connect to mlab

[johhansantana]

Informations

• Node.js version: 10.9.0
• npm version: 6.2.0
• Strapi version: 3.0.0-alpha.14.1.1
• Database: mongodb/mlab
• Operating system: mac

What is the current behavior?
Trying to connect to a database hosted at mlab doesn't work.

Steps to reproduce the problem
Create a database at mlab.com

Create a database user

go to /config/environments/development/database.json and configure it using your credentials:

{
  "defaultConnection": "default",
  "connections": {
    "default": {
      "connector": "strapi-hook-mongoose",
      "settings": {
        "client": "mongo",
        "host": "*****.mlab.com",
        "srv": false,
        "port": "*****",
        "database": "johhansantana",
        "username": "jsantana",
        "password": "********"
      },
      "options": {
        "authenticationDatabase": "", // I tried johhansantana as well
        "ssl": true // tried false as well
      }
    }
  }
}

What is the expected behavior?
Be able to connect to mlab

Suggested solutions
There are a few questions on the cli and configurations that aren't explaind.

For example:

"options": {
  "authenticationDatabase": "",
  "ssl": true
}

It's not clear what authenticationDatabase is for
and ssl not sure either.

This is my database user at mlab:

[coding-saints]

For the cli authentiicationDatabase value you need to use whatever the name was when creating it on mLab. So if you created a new deployment named my-sandbox, it would display something like ds100100/my-sandbox. Whatever the name is after the / is your authenticated DB (my-sandbox in this example). If I can find the reference then I'll edit this for your own research. I hope this helps. All I can say is I had a heck of a time getting started, also. Stay persistent!
Edit: Also I believe you just leave SSL to the default (press enter). If I'm mistaken just type it explicitly then. I'll look for the issue where I found this from...

[johhansantana]

Tried putting what's after the / but no luck.

Tried from the beginning but still no luck:

This time, cli says it connected but when I run it fails.

[yummyelin]

I am able to connect to mLab by using:

{
  "defaultConnection": "default",
  "connections": {
    "default": {
      "settings": {
        "client": "mongo",
        "host": "${process.env.DATABASE_HOST || '127.0.0.1'}",
        "port": "${process.env.DATABASE_PORT || 27017}",
        "database": "${process.env.DATABASE_NAME || 'strapi-development'}",
        "username": "${process.env.DATABASE_USERNAME || ''}",
        "password": "${process.env.DATABASE_PASSWORD || ''}"
      },
      "options": {
        "ssl": false
      },
      "connector": "strapi-hook-mongoose"
    }
  }
}

[johhansantana]

tried your way but no luck :(

{
  "defaultConnection": "default",
  "connections": {
    "default": {
      "connector": "strapi-hook-mongoose",
      "settings": {
        "client": "mongo",
        "host": "******.mlab.com",
        "port": "******",
        "database": "johhansantana",
        "username": "jsantana",
        "password": "********"
      },
      "options": {
        "ssl": false
      }
    }
  }
}

[derrickmehaffy]

@johhansantana Never used mlab but there are a host of closed issues related this for instance with your auth db:

[johhansantana]

@derrickmehaffy that's the name I'm using. Both that and the database name are the same johhansantana

[sundaycrafts]

How about the port number is correct?

Or can you connect to the DB from other clients like Robo 3T or Compass or mongo shell?

[johhansantana]

I was able to connect via Robo 3T:

I tried again to see if I just needed to have some data in the mlab database but failed again:

[sundaycrafts]

Thank you for your report! But I'm sorry I can't detect the problem.
If you have some time, please try to edit the module source code directly and get error full message.

Strapi may throw error from this line. Just inject console.log(error). You can access this file from node_modules/strapi-hook-mongoose in your project (it may be link).

[johhansantana]

I tried that and I get the following log:

If I put a wrong username or password I get:

Doesn't matter what I put in authenticationDatabase.

[johhansantana]

I have tried using a VPS with a local mongodb with an authentication as well but still the same error:

I'm able to connect via the terminal though:

This is the config:

{
  "defaultConnection": "default",
  "connections": {
    "default": {
      "connector": "strapi-hook-mongoose",
      "settings": {
        "client": "mongo",
        "host": "***.***.**.*",
        "srv": false,
        "port": 27017,
        "database": "johhansantana",
        "username": "jsantana",
        "password": "******"
      },
      "options": {
        "authenticationDatabase": "admin",
        "ssl": false
      }
    }
  }
}

[maturanomx]

Hi o/ I just give a quick eye on the conversation. I have one question: What's the value of NODE_ENV?

In the past I tried mlab without problems. No value for authenticationDatabase, just host, port, username, password and database, plain and simple.

As far I saw, I think the problem could be that when you create the project, strapi writes to config/environment/develop/database.json, but when you try to run it, reads from config/environment/WHATEVER_NODE_ENV_IS/database.json. If that's the case, the fix is just copy the file, or set the data to the correct env variables that are in the file.

Hope it helps. Let me know o/

[yummyelin]

Do you have @ sign in your password? It seems it does not support @ sign.

https://github.com/mrvautin/adminMongo/issues/147

[derrickmehaffy]

@yummyelin nice thinking

[BraydenGirard]

For the cli authentiicationDatabase value you need to use whatever the name was when creating it on mLab. So if you created a new deployment named my-sandbox, it would display something like ds100100/my-sandbox. Whatever the name is after the / is your authenticated DB (my-sandbox in this example). If I can find the reference then I'll edit this for your own research. I hope this helps. All I can say is I had a heck of a time getting started, also. Stay persistent!
Edit: Also I believe you just leave SSL to the default (press enter). If I'm mistaken just type it explicitly then. I'll look for the issue where I found this from...

This was the solution for me. You can not leave Authentication Database empty when using MLab. You need to specify the name of your database here.

[deevolutionism]

The mlab tutorial should be updated to mention authenticationDatabase as an important input - I think the image is outdated. Problem with using medium is community members can't make changes to it...

[sujeetbuddiga]

@deevolutionism can you please conclude the solution if you were able to work it out.

[deevolutionism]

I performed exactly what @coding-saints suggested up top - his solution worked for me.

For the cli authentiicationDatabase value you need to use whatever the name was when creating it on mLab. So if you created a new deployment named my-sandbox, it would display something like ds100100/my-sandbox. Whatever the name is after the / is your authenticated DB (my-sandbox in this example). If I can find the reference then I'll edit this for your own research. I hope this helps. All I can say is I had a heck of a time getting started, also. Stay persistent!
Edit: Also I believe you just leave SSL to the default (press enter). If I'm mistaken just type it explicitly then. I'll look for the issue where I found this from...

[johhansantana]

@yummyelin it was this all along.... thank you! and everyone that also replied. Sorry for the noise.

Do you have @ sign in your password? It seems it does not support @ sign.
mrvautin/adminMongo#147

[derrickmehaffy]

@johhansantana If you could do me a huge favor and make a PR to include a note about this in the docs.

That would be great. Just so we can reference users to it in the future.

[johhansantana]

@derrickmehaffy where exactly could we put the note?

[sujeetbuddiga]

Specifying authenticationDatabase in options.

I have assigned authenticationDatabase to the value of database and it worked for me.

I made this change in database.json file

{
  "defaultConnection": "myapp-aws-mongod",
  "connections": {
    "default": {
      "connector": "strapi-hook-mongoose",
      "settings": {
        "client": "mongo",
        "host": "ds115613.mlab.com",
        "port": 15610,
        "database": "myapp-aws-mongod",
        "username": "myapp",
        "password": "myapppwd1"
      },
      "options": {
        "ssl": "false",
        "authenticationDatabase": "myapp-aws-mongod"
      }
    }
  }
}

[derrickmehaffy]

@johhansantana I'm thinking maybe a new block around here: https://strapi.io/documentation/configurations/configurations.html#database

To answer some of the common MLab questions

[ghost]

What about if you get an error saying "URL is not defined" when running the command of strapi start

[derrickmehaffy]

@dommythekid Use node 10.

Node v8 is End-Of-Life (EOL)
Node v11 is still in development and is not ready for any production usage.

[ghost]

@derrickmehaffy Worked instantly - thanks so much!

[derrickmehaffy]

@dommythekid no problem

[JohnnyZ]

Node v11 worked for me. I just needed to provide "strapi-test" which was the name of my mLab instance as my authentication database.

[Attrash-Islam]

"authenticationDatabase": "myapp-aws-mongod"

Worked for me! 🎉

[jimmymam18]

[jimmymam18]

i still have an error

[davidkartuzinski]

@jimmymam18 - Did you follow these instructions? https://strapi.io/documentation/3.0.0-beta.x/guides/databases.html#mongodb-installation

[jimmymam18]

I tried to use the terminal on my visual studio and when running the mongoDB I get an error stating that my database connection failed and it also state that my database name: already file exists

[jimmymam18]

I did everything and nothing seems to work someone please help me

[davidkartuzinski]

@jimmymam18 - hello. Sorry about what is happening.
Can you confirm that you have successfully gotten MongoDB running in the background?

If you did, are you using the alpha or beta versions of Strapi?

[jimmymam18]

how do I know if MangoDB is running in the background? I'm using the alpha Strapi.

[davidkartuzinski]

@jimmymam18 - you can check in your terminal with the command service mongod status. Did you follow the documentation for installing MongoDB on your local computer? https://strapi.io/documentation/3.0.0-beta.x/guides/databases.html#install-mongodb-locally

[derrickmehaffy]

depending on the OS you are using systemctl status mongod @jimmymam18

[jimmymam18]

It still does not work, is there's a way someone can either skype or facetime and explain over skype?

[derrickmehaffy]

@jimmymam18 google would probably be a bit easier. There are tons of guides on mongodb on a linux host. :)

[jimmymam18]

I'm working on a flutter mobile app and using Visual Studio as a terminal to try to run MangoDB but it seems to not to connect at all.

[davidkartuzinski]

@jimmymam18 - I would suggest not using the terminal in VS Code but the default terminal. I am not sure what OS you're on, but this page has a few different videos on how to install MongoDB and get it running.

Please take the time to separate the issue and see if this is an issue of MongoDB running or Strapi running or their connection. At this point, start with ensuring you got MongoDB running independently of Strapi.

[suiteappdev]

working on mlab editing timeout on hook.json to 100000, and setting port in connection as string work for me.

[kgrosvenor]

authentication database is the same as your database name in mlab, that's all you should need to do, and then match the port mlab displays to you.

[thanhtam4692]

working on mlab editing timeout on hook.json to 100000, and setting port in connection as string work for me.

Ok so I have to comment on this silly little bloody bug. Setting the port as string and ssl = false work for me!